Sand separator



D. JONES Feb. 4, 1936.

SAND SEPARATOR Filed Feb. 27} 1954 Patented at. 4, 1936 SAND SEPARATOR David Jones, lraan,FTex., assignor of one-half to King Application February 21, 1934, Serial No. 713,119

1 Claim.

This invention relates to oil wells and particularly to the gas anchors and sand separators thereof which are disposed beneath the pump and which are designed to separate the gas from the oil so that the gas will not enter the working barrel of the pump and which are also designed to cause the separation of the sand from the oil or other liquid entering the pump. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a gas anchor and sand separator in which a perforated upwardly conical head is used forming the upper end of a chamber surrounding the lower end of the working barrel and the standing valve, the conical elementbeing perforated throughout its entire extent so.as to permit the ready entrance of oil but prevent the entrance of trash, sand and other materials.

A further object-is to provide a gas anchor and sand separator which will permit a relatively great flow of fluid ata decrease in power over what is necessary with the ordinary sand anchor. A further object isto provide a gas anchor and separator which is less complicated and easy 6 to manufacture than devices of the same character known to me and which can be made from lighter material, thus taking a considerable 'loadoft the tubing joints. I

. A further object is'to provide a device of this character which will hold sand, gas and all trash such as swab rubbers outside'of the anchor while i at the same time permitting the tubing to be flooded with liquid.

Another object is to-provide a device of this character in which practically no sand and no trash will gather in the container or chamben My invention is illustrated in the,accompanying drawing, wherein: 45 Figure 1 is an elevation of my sand separator and oil anchor, the tubing of thewell being shown in section;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the sand separator andanchor.

: Referring to thedrawing, l0 designates the working barrel which, as illustrated, is formed of pipe sections II and l2. The pipe section II,

as illustrated, is connected by a coupling l3-to a nipple H. The working barrel section II carries u the standing valve l5. Nipple ll screws into a 'well is designated A.

spider It with which the pipe section i2 engages by screw-threads.

The spider i6 is cast with the upper end of a relatively large pipe section ll. This is adapted tainer into which the pipe section 12 extends.

Surrounding the pipe section II is a conical strainer 20 constituting a head for the upper end of the container l9. This is finely perforated with apertures 2|. At its lower end, this conical strainer terminates in a collar adapted to have 15 screw-threaded engagement with the upper section ll of the container and atits upper end the head terminates in a collar 23 which loosely surrounds the pipe section II. The casing of the 20 In actual practice, the oil within the casing A passes through the fine perforations 2|, flows downward within the container iii to the lower end of the pipe section.l2 and as the pumping operation proceeds is drawn upward past the standing valve in the usual manner. The object in making the screen 20 in the form of a downwardly and outwardly sloping cone is to prevent its hanging on the casing when pulling the tubing. Thecontainer I9, it will be understood, is 3 full of dead liquid. The perforations of the screen hold all the .sand andgas from entering the container formed of the sections I! and I9 and thus prevent the sand and gas from interfering with the properoperation of the standing valve.

Inasmuch as the container is filled with dead liquid, it is obvious that gas cannot back down through this body of dead liquid and then up through the pipe section l2 but this gas will be forced outward between the casing and the tubing A.

The screen 20 will hold out all trash and sand and thus eliminate the'wear-and tear on the valves and seats. i

In other constructions of this character known to ine, sand, trash and oil pass into thelower end' of the anchor altogether and sand will collect in the bottom of theanchor, thus causing it to fill up shortly and the sandand other trash will pass up-through the valves in the working barrel or else it will be necessary to pull the tubingat relatively short'intervals in order to dump the material gathered within the anchor. My

- device keeps this foreign material out before it gets inside oi the anchor.

The structure is very simple and can be cheaply made. It is easy to take apart and assemble the pump. t

' While I have illustrated certain details of conand can be made to fit any size of tubing and use any-size or style of standing valve or working barrel. 1

Attention is called to the use in my device of the short nipple I that screws directly into the hub or seat of the standing valve. With my structure, the working barrel can be screwed directly on to the standing valve by not using this nipple l4 and the coupling l3 or if the working barrel is used, already formed with a standing valve and seat, then this working barrel may bescrewed on to the short nipple ht.

From my experience with this device and other devices known to me, I believe a well will pump 20% more liquidusing 20% less power than with. othemg'as anchors at present in use. This is due to the fact that the ordinary gas anchor will not let the liquid flow freely to the valves. The (area or .the perforated cone 2!] is' such as to permit free flow of liquid into the container and this liquid flows freely upward through the valves of struction and arrangement of parts, I do not wish to be limitedthereto as obviously many changes might be made therein without departing from the spirit oi the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Thus I do not wish to be limited to the particular form of the standing valve illustrated nor its means of connection at this point as the location and the mounting of the standing valve may be changed in many. ways without departing from my invention as defined in the claim.

I claim:-

A gas anchor and sand separator comprising a container closed at its lower end, the upper end of the container having a spider formed with a I central internally screw-threaded hub, a finely perforated head having a collar at its lower end for engagement with the upper end of the container, the hub being upwardly and inwardly.

conical and terminating in a collar adapted to fit around a working barrel, a working barrel extending thru the small upper end of the head,

a collar on the lower end of the working barrel, 'a nipple engaged with the collar and with'the interior screw threads of the hub, and a pipesec tion engaged with the hubbelow the nipple and extending downward into the container, the pipe section "being open at its lower end and terminating short of the lower endof the container.

' DAVID JONES. 

